It Follows movie reviewIt Follows: written and directed by David Robert Mitchell

I get pretty freaked-out during scary movies, so when my husband said he’d booked evening tickets for indie thriller It Follows I was terrified for the entire day. And as it turns out, I had good reason to be.

The film opens at dusk with a scantily-clad girl running from a house in fear. She jumps into her car and drives to the beach, where she sits at the water’s edge in the dark. When the sun rises the next day the girl’s dead - and it’s clear from the state of her corpse that whoever, or whatever murdered her is no ordinary killer.

Next we meet 19 year old Jay (Maika Monroe), an ethereal blonde from a lower middle-class family whose ambitions centre around finding a boyfriend. She dates Hugh (Jake Weary), but things take a nasty turn after they make out and she finds herself infected with the kind of STD that nightmares are made of. From now on wherever she goes, whatever she does, a shape-shifting entity is going to follow her - and it’s got one thing on it’s mind.

Like the chain letter from hell, the only thing she can do to get rid of the curse is pass it on.

The film riffs on the classic horror themes of teen sex, sin and guilt. But as tension builds it becomes clear that the central idea is the inexorable nature of death. From the moment we’re born it creeps relentlessly towards us - and we don’t know when it will strike. (If you have heart problems, it might strike while you’re watching this film.)

If the story wasn’t creepy enough the film’s set in Detroit, where rows of derelict homes - brick houses with shattered windows lining rubbish-strewn roads - give the film a surreal edge. The set-dressing adds to the dreamlike quality of the movie. The slightly grubby old lamps, TV sets and duvet prints of the interior complement the dour autumnal tones of the exterior, and set the film in an uncertain present. Even the entity moves at a slow, interminable pace as it advances through shots that look as though they could have been crafted by Gregory Crewdson.

And then there’s the score - an 80s-inspired synth freak-out by Rich Vreeland. It’s pure genius - but I, for one, won’t be buying the soundtrack.

I don’t need a CD to remind me of this move - I have the feeling that It Follows is going to be creeping me out for a while.

Andrew’s a first year student at New York’s prestigious Shaffer Conservatory. He’s ruthless in pursuit of his goal of becoming a jazz legend - practicing even when his hands bleed. Terence sniffs out Andrew’s talent and invites him to become part of his studio band… but instead of being inducted into a bright future, Andrew enters into Terence’s high pressure, high stakes world where one mistake could cost his future.

During a family dinner scene Andrew references saxophonist Charlie Parker, saying he would rather “die drunk, broke at 34 and have people at a dinner table talk about me than live to be rich and sober at 90 and nobody remembered who I was.” Whiplash devotes itself to exploring this theme - what price is too high for artistic immortality? And Andrew’s already paying steep dues - his mentor is a sadist.

Throughout the film it’s unclear whether Terence gets off on crushing his students’ dreams, or if he’s pushing Andrew to his limits because he sees something special in him. At times the bullying is harrowing and uncomfortable to watch - but Andrew’s no easy target. He’s just as bloody-minded as Terence, and the film is a long wrestle for power.

Andrew has deep reserves of self-belief which enable him to take extraordinary risks, such as during the climactic drum solo - a battle of wits that could have devastating consequences. Andrew drums for his life, fingers covered with blood and sweat. With each furious beat he risks dropping his increasingly slippery sticks. Revenge and triumph fuse in the last moments of the film, and it’s unclear whether both tutor and student’s dreams have come true - or if they’re taking each other straight to Hell.

How far should you go in pursuit of your dreams? Whiplash leaves you to make up your own mind.

Author

My short fiction has been published in Headland, Hue and Cry, Pot Roast and Aerodrome. I'm an award-winning playwright and zine creator, and my play Indiscretions was published by Playmarket. I have contributed articles and creative non-fiction to The Spinoff, The Sunday Star Times, The NZ Herald and more. I also manage the social media for my cat Bruce, and I wrote and illustrated a children's book, Bruce Finds A Home, based on his exploits.